Railway and highway signaling device.



A. H. MESS ER. RAILWAY AND HIGHWAY SIGNALING D EVICE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.24. I915- Patented-Oct. 5, 1915.

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WITNESSES: INVEIVITOR I ATTORNHS v A. H. MESSER.

RAILWAY AND HIGHWAY SIGNALING DEVICE.

Patented Oct. 5

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2 I NW.

A TTOR/VEIS A. H. MESSER. I RAILWAY AND HIGHWAY SIGNALING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 24. 1915.

- Pateilted Oct. 5, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

WITNESSES:

A TTOB/VEYS AMOS H. MESSER. or MANKATO, MINNESOTA.

RAILWAY AND HIGHWAY SIGNALING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 5, 1915.

Application filed March 24, 1915-. Serial No. 16,642.

I To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AMos H. MESSER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Mankato, in the county of Blue Earth and State of Minnesota, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Railway and Highway Signaling Devices, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in railway and highway signaling devices, and it consists in the combinations, constructions, and arrangements herein described and claimed.

An object of'my invention is to provide a device which will simultaneously operate a semaphore placed along the track and a highway signal disposed adjacent thereto.

A further object of my invention is to provide a combined highway signal and semaphore operating device which is simple in construction and .which is therefore not easily liable to get out of order.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device of the type described which is positive in action and which will require little or no attention or adjustment for a considerable length of time.

Other objects and advantages'will appear in the following specification, and the novel features of the invention will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings forming part of this application, in which- Figure 1 is a face viewof the highway signal showing the latter in its danger position. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the railroad track showing the relative locations of the semaphore and the highway crossing signal. Fig. 3 is aplan view of the device. Fig. 4 is a section along the line 4-4 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a vertical section through a portion of the device, showing the apparatus in one position. Fig. 6 is a vertical section through another portion of the device. Fig. 7 is a section along the line 'l7 of Fig. 1, showing the semaphore in one position, and Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 7 showing it in another position.

In carrying out my invention, I make use of any ordinary railway having tracks provided with rails such as those shown at 1 and 2 in Fig. 2. At 3 I have shown a roadway which crosses the track. The device is designed to be used in connection with a block signaling system, and in Fig. 2 I

have shown portions. ofthree blocks A, B, and C. Any block signaling system in which the entrance of a train into a block serves to close an electric circuit, may be equipped with my improved semaphore and road crossing signal.

Referring now particularly to Fig. 1, it will be seen that the roadway 3 is flanked on either side by uprights 4; and 5 respectively, said uprights being joined by a cross member 6. The upright 5 forms the support for the semaphore 7. This is pivotally mounted at-8 and is provided with a weight 9. The semaphore blade 7 is connected, by

means of a link 10 with the bell crank lever. '11 which is pivotally mounted at 12 to abrace member 13 which connects the upright 5 with the cross member 6,'see Fig. 1.

The upper end of the bell crank lever slotted as shown at 11 to receivev a pin 14 carried by arack member 15 which is slidably disposed on the cross member 6v and is arranged to moveinto and out of a casing- 17. That portion of the rack member 15 within the casing 17 is provided with two sets of teeth, one set15 being arranged to engage a pinion 18 on the shaft 19 of the electric motor 20, while the other set of teeth 15 is designed to engage a pinion 21 on an upright spindle 22 which passes through a circular guide frame 23 and which bears at its top a lamp 21. The circular frame 23 is secured to the cross member 6 by means of curved supporting members 25. Secured to the vertically extending spindle or shaft 22 and within the frame 23 is a circular sign orsignal 26, which may be a plain sheet of metal or other suitable material provided with words of warning, such as Stop, train coming.

From the foregoing description of the various parts of the device the operation thereof may be readily understood. The normal position of the semaphore 7 is that shown in Fig. 8, and this indicates to the engineer of an oncoming train that there is. danger ahead, 2'. 6., that the railroad crossing is unblocked and hence unprotected. The normal position of the road signaling device is that shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. that isto say, the disk 26 is at right angles to the position shown in full lines in Fig. 1, in such a position that one coming along the roadway would ,view it along its edge. Now, when the train enters a block which has connection with the motor 20, the latter'is energized and turns the semaphore into the position shown in Fig. 7, therebyindicating a protectedroad'way, since the signal 26 is simultaneously turned into the position shown in Fig. 1, so as to indicate that a train is coming. This simultaneous operation is easlly seen from an inspection of the drawings. When the motor is turned in the direction shown by the arrow in Fig. 1, the rack 15 will be moved to the right, thereby forcing the semaphore arm 7 down into the positionshown in Fig. 1 through the medium of the bell crank lever 11 and the link 10. The engineer of the oncoming train thereby knows that the roadway is protected while the one who is passing along the road knows that a train is coming. Now, when the train passes beyond the block, or the point of electrical control, that is to say, when the circuit of the motor is broken, the weight 9 of the semaphore will take the latter back into its initial position shown in Fig. 8, and this will cause a reversal of movement of the members 10, 11, and 15, thus rotating the sign 26 into its original position. If, for any reason the apparatus should fail to work, which is unlikely, then the semaphore will be in the danger position and the on' =coming train will know that the crossing is the normal position of said signal being such as to indicate a free and unobstructed crossing, a semaphore disposed along the railway track, the normal position of the semaphore being such as to indicate danger, means forsimultaneously bringing said highway crossing signal into the danger position and the semaphore into the clear position, said last-named means comprising an electric motor, a rack operated thereby, a pinion operated by said rack and having connection with said highway crossing signal for operating the latter, and a lever and link connection at the opposite end of the rack for operating the semaphore.

2. The combination with a railway track and a highway crossing therefor, of a signal disposed adjacent to said highway crossing, the normal position of said signal. being such as to indicate a free and unobstructed crossing, a semaphore disposed along the railway track, the normal position of the semaphore being such as to indicate danger, means for simultaneously bringing said highway cross ing into the danger position and the semaphore into the clear position, said last-named means comprising an electric motor, a pinion carried by the motor shaft, a rack arranged to mesh with said pinion, a second pinion arranged to mesh with said rack, a shaft for said second-named pinion,'a disk carried by said shaft, a bell crank lever at the opposite end of said rack having a pin and 'slot connection therewith, and a link connected to one end of said bell crank lever and having a pivotal connection with said semaphore at the other end.

AMOS H. MESSER. Witnesses: B. F. PAGE, ,JNo. 0. Non. 

